Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.

Friday, 18 August 2017

A History of Violence: The Myth of the Moderate Kurdish Rebel

Sarah Abed has finally posted part 3 of her series on the Kurds. I put up a commentary on the first two parts back in July in which I wrote, by way of introduction:

What are we to think of the Kurds–often portrayed by mainstream media as gallant freedom fighters, with lots of cute girls fighting in their ranks? Ah, but now we see that by and large they have cast their lot with the US in its efforts at regime change in Syria. This de facto places the Kurds in what would seem to be some very atrocious alliances, including with Israel, the Saudis, and, yes…ISIS.

So did the Kurds make a deal with the devil? Are they fallen angels? Were they ever angels to begin with? Sarah Abed has posted the first two installments of a three-part series that delves into these questions. In this series, she analyzes, as one Mint Press editor describes it, “the role that some Kurdish factions have played throughout history in helping major powers create chaos in the Middle East – from the Kurdish uprising in Iraq in the 1960s to the ongoing conflict in Syria today.”

In her latest installment, Abed discusses Kurdish complicity in the Armenian genocide, as well as what she describes as “a centuries-long history of persecuting minority groups.” It is a history which has included attacks against Assyrians and Yazidis as Kurds have endeavored to establish their own state.

Presently the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq presides over Assyrian and Yazidi populations, but these minority groups have not received adequate protection from ISIS, and according to Abed, Kurdish leaders have even allowed terrorists to “violently cleanse” certain areas of non-Kurdish residents.

While the article does offer the following disclaimer…

It’s important to reiterate that this three-part analysis is not meant to be understood as a sweeping generalization of the Kurdish ethnicity at large. The points being addressed are specifically in reference to the corrupt factions. The West has effectively preyed on the Kurds’ internal divisions and has used some factions to fulfill an imperialist goal of dividing and weakening the Near and Middle East. The Kurdish people are diverse, and in recent years, aspects of their culture and customs have been discussed in mainstream media. But the behavior of some of their more corrupt factions must be addressed.

Abed nonetheless goes on to write:

The Kurds have gained popularity through effectively marketing themselves to Western audiences as revolutionary, feminist, Marxist “freedom fighters” who have a burning desire to create their version of a utopia where peace for all will reign — an image that Stephen Gowans recently critiqued in “The Myth of the Kurdish YPG’s Moral Excellence.”

What they actually seek to create is an illegal autonomous state carved out of existing sovereign countries. The freedom they seek is to be brought about by means of slaughtering natives in the countries that they want to Balkanize and divide on sectarian lines. They have set about vacating areas of indigenous people, utilizing fear and forceful tactics that are supported by their sponsors but that are in violation of globally accepted human rights. To agree with their cause is to agree with genocidal actions that, in essence, tear people away from their homes and lands while fitting conveniently into the imperial views of Western nations.